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Home > Bevo Beat > Archives > 2010 > February > 23 > Entry
Breakfast with Bevo: Bye bye, Balbay
Good morning. Breakfast is served.
YESTERDAY: The Chargers said goodbye to LaDainian Tomlinson. The Longhorns said goodbye to their No. 1 baseball ranking. The Texas men said goodbye to Dogus Balbay. The Canadians said hello to ice dancing gold.
TODAY: Will we get snow? Forecasters say very possible. Recent history says I’ll believe it when I see it. Randy Riggs and Alan Trubow will hold a 1 p.m. live chat on UT football.
TOMORROW: The Texas men host Oklahoma State. The Texas women travel to Oklahoma State. The baseball team tries to even its season record at .500. And we’ve got two online chats scheduled â€" Kirk Bohls and Cedric Golden at noon, followed by Suzanne Halliburton on the NFL combine at 2 p.m.
IT’S FEBRUARY 23
Forty-seven days down, 318 to go.
Today’s a pretty important day if you’re into sports history. Consider these:
February 23, 1960: Beloved Ebbets Field â€" longtime home of the Brooklyn Dodgers â€" gets the wrecking ball, three years after the team had moved to Los Angeles.
February 23, 1983: That that, NFL. The USFL signs Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker to a three-year contract worth $1.5 million per season, making him the highest-paid pro football player.
February 23, 1985: Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight flings a chair across the court during a game against Purdue.
February 23, 1987: Kansas City Royals manager Dick Howser retires because of a diagnosed brain tumor â€" about four months before he dies.
February 23, 1987: The city of Chicago gives the Cubs the right to install lights at Wrigley and play up to 18 night games.
Today’s birthdays include Nebraska’s Tom Osborne (73), NFL Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff (67), former Cowboys tight end Jackie Smith (60), former Cowboys defensive end and current Geico pitchman Ed “Too Tall†Jones (59) and former Texas A&M and Kansas City Chiefs running back Greg Hill (38).
If today’s your birthday, you also share it with Michael Dell (45). You could send him something, but isn’t he one of those guys who probably already has everything?
WORDS OF WISDOM
Today’s golden nugget:
“What I’m looking for is a running back who can carry the ball 20 times on Saturday and then show up for practice Monday without a lawyer, doctor or agent.â€
â€" Lou Holtz
BYE BYE, BALBAY
Fans were unhappy with Dogus Balbay’s lack of scoring.
On a team of scorers, Balbay’s 3.8 points per game average stuck out like a sore thumb.
And he’s going to be missed. If not by fans, then certainly by teammates.
But that’s the point. Balbay’s not a scorer. He’s a defender. The Texas point guard was lost for the season on Monday with a torn ACL. He’s the third Texas player lost this year, joining starting guard Varez Ward â€" the team’s original defensive specialist â€" and reserve forward Shawn Williams.
This can go one of two ways for the struggling Longhorns.
It’ll galvanize the rest of the team, force them to circle the wagons at a critical part of the season, give Avery Bradley and Damion James more focus and responsibility, and allow J’Covan Brown the chance to really shine and finish the season strong.
Or it’ll further plummet Texas, continue the Longhorns’ season slide, expose the team’s defensive deficiencies, force Brown into a larger role than he’s ready for and cause more turnovers.
It makes Wednesday’s home game against Oklahoma State a must-win.
Rick Barnes said he didn’t think there was a better defensive player in the country than Balbay, who also missed his freshman season with a torn ACL in his other knee.
Reaction around the nation?
The Bleacher Report thinks this may be just what the doctor ordered, because it’ll force Barnes to give more minutes to Brown and Jai Lucas. Maybe. But I don’t see Lucas getting significantly more minutes down the stretch.
Matt Norlander with The Dagger blog says the loss of Balbay only forces Barnes’ hand into playing Brown more, and this could be the best thing to happen to Texas.
Sure. If all it took to win a championship was just score a lot of points.
Heck of a nice job of at least breaking Balbay’s injury down to support an argument, by the Rush the Court blog. It makes the point that the loss of Balbay inadvertently addresses Texas’ two biggest problems this year: finding offensive consistency and having clearly defined roles for players.
If it forces the Horns to become a true perimeter team, the blog asks, then isn’t that what fans have been wanting all along anyway?
Whoever ends up getting Balbay’s minutes â€" Mason, Lucas, Brown â€" it won’t change what Barnes wants from the position: consistency, Chuck Carlton of the Dallas Morning News writes today.
Fellow Morning News blogger Laken Litman, however, has a slightly different take: Balbay’s injury is bad for Texas, because Barnes and Brown haven’t been on the same page all season. All this does is throw the Horns’ point guard position in disarray.
QUICK HITS
Texas Tech is raising its football ticket prices, by $14 and $19 in most sections. As if Tommy Tuberville didn’t have enough pressure already.
So Tim Tebow is working on a new throwing delivery and picking up the 3- and 5-step drop. Nothing like a crash course in quarterbacking fundamentals two months before you’re drafted.
There are rumors that the St. Louis Rams are interested in getting Jason Campbell from the Washington Redskins. The thought of Sam Bradford ending up a ‘Skin is looking more and more likely.
Oregon coach Chip Kelly kicked one of his players off the team because of the player’s Facebook page. And no, his name wasn’t Buck.
AROUND THE FORTY ACRES
BASEBALL
The Horns’ game with Dallas Baptist today was moved to Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Disch. Texas dropped from No. 1 to No. 3 in this week’s Baseball America poll.
SOFTBALL
Today’s game with Texas Woman’s University has been postponed too, also because of expected bad weather. Unlike baseball, however, this one hasn’t been rescheduled yet.
GOLF
Freshman Cody Gribble’s 7-under 65 paced the 10th-ranked men’s team to an eight-stroke lead after the second round of the Puerto Rico Classic. Today’s the final round.
The Horns shot 19-under 269, Texas’ lowest round since Nov. 7, 2007.
The women’s team sits in fourth place after the first day of the Lady Rattler Roundup in San Antonio. The Horns trail Tarleton State, St. Edward’s and Northeastern State.
WHAT’S UP IN CANADA
Medal standings, entering today: The U.S. picked up a silver on Monday in ice dancing, bumping its overall medals lead. We’ve won 25 medals â€" 7 golds, 8 silvers and 10 bronzes â€" which is four ahead of Germany’s 21. Norway (14), Russia (11) and host Canada (10) are off in the distance.
Today, the U.S. has chances to medal in four events, led by Bode Miller in the men’s giant slalom.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Â…
Didn’t pick up a Statesman today? If not, you missed a Kirk Bohls column on this past weekend’s open auditions to sing the national anthem at Round Rock Express home games. Even Elvis was there. You also can check out the video.
We also had a feature on Helen Upperton, a former Horns triple jumper who’ll jump into the bobsled today for Canada, trying to win a medal in Vancouver.
That wasn’t it for today. We also wrote about two Stony Point football players who committed to OU and a story on a Liberty Hill point guard who’s about to enter the Merchant Marines â€" but hopes to make a long boys high school basketball playoff run first.
Â… OR WILL MISS IT
On Wednesday, we’ll advance the men’s and womens’ games against Oklahoma State and will have a column from Cedric Golden.
THIS AND THAT
3: Games left for the Kansas Jayhawks to sweep through Big 12 play undefeated.
13: Football commitments so far who have pledged to Texas. Key words: so far. The Horns are bringing in another big batch of prospects this weekend for their second junior day.
22: Games started â€" out of 24 played â€" by Dogus Balbay since Varez Ward was lost for the season in the third game.
28: Straight games that Kevin Durant has scored 25 or more points. His Oklahoma City Thunder host the Phoenix Suns tonight, when he can make it 29.
58: Consecutive wins at Phog Allen Fieldhouse by the Jayhawks, which clinched at least a tie for the Big 12 title Monday night.
OK, Breakfast is over. Thanks for stopping by. See you Wednesday.
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Comments
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By nativetexan
February 23, 2010 8:50 AM | Link to this
Balbay was a good defender. The problem for him is that the game doesn't stop for the offense to take the field when the ball changes hands. He should never have been a starter to begin with. Big 12 Tournament - Lose 1, NCAA - 1 and done. Season over. Barnes can then start trying to figure out what happened and get help for next year.
By Bevo Proud
February 23, 2010 8:32 AM | Link to this
C, you are giving them more credit than I am, I felt this team was a 1 & done team with Balbay, now I'm really worried. Hopefully they play well at home against OK-State then at Reed arena in College Station Saturday.
By c
February 23, 2010 8:15 AM | Link to this
Hey, as far as the BB program and Balbay's loss, This team is looking like a 2 and done tourney team anyway. Barnes should look to taking the next step with his "diaper dandies" NEXT year, and prep for that.